


Only some vocabulary

by HopeS_park



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, how do I title, oh well, still new to voltron, this was supposed to be more romantic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-05
Updated: 2018-07-05
Packaged: 2019-06-05 17:27:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15175715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HopeS_park/pseuds/HopeS_park
Summary: Keith keeps forgetting that Shiro's native language isn't English. (Very random drabble)





	Only some vocabulary

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so here it is. My first Voltron fanfic ever. It's probably turned out pretty shitty, but aw well.   
> This idea was really random and actually based on the fact that I had just learned what the Japanese word for 'Milky Way' was.   
> Like I said, random. But I think it's kind of fun to read. Also, posting on mobile sucks. 
> 
> Anyways, enjoy.

Once the projection of stars and space vanished, Keith took a long, silent look at Shiro.   
"Sky River?" he finally said, arching a brow.   
It's true that he had taken more flying than star navigation lessons. But in all those years in which he'd been interested in astronomy, he had never heard of any galaxy called Sky River.   
Shiro blinked. He looked as if he'd only just remembered that Keith was in the room with him. Which could very well be the case. Shiro had seemed pretty intent on delivering a good lecture.   
"Our galaxy?" he answered, though the intonation in his voice made it sound like a question.   
Keith couldn't help it. He burst out laughing.   
When he happened to look up, he did feel slightly bad for the confusedly hurt face Shiro was making.   
"What's wrong?" he asked, confusion edging his expression.   
"You don't know?" Keith croaked in-between suppressed laughter.   
Shiro had gone to lock the classroom's door. Keith wasn't sure whether it was because he wasn't expecting any further students today, or because he didn't want anyone to listen in on their conversation.  
"Don't know what?"  
Keith hoped Shiro was acting stupid on purpose. "What our galaxy is called!" Keith burst out. "You can't tell me we've traveled thousand - maybe a million - lightyears deep into space, further than any human being has ever been and you don't even know the name of our home galaxy?!"  
When Shiro moved towards the old fashioned blackboard on the back wall of the classroom, Keith couldn't quite read his expression. He looked...embarrassed, but at the same time so sure of what he was talking about.   
"But isn't it...," he started mumbling to himself, taking a piece of chalk and starting to write onto the blackboard.   
Whatever he was writing, it might as well have been Altean. Keith didn't understand any of it. It looked like a children's drawing.   
Shiro tapped the chalk against one of the weird-looking signs, rambling to himself, "That's 'sky' for sure. Maybe I..."  
He looked up to Keith. "What's longer than a stream?"  
"Excuse me?"   
Keith was quietly debating with himself whether he had lost his sense of hearing or whether he should take Shiro to the medical wing.   
"You know, in nature. What's longer and slightly bigger than a stream, but not quite a lake?"  
Keith was sure he was gaping by now. "Do you...do you mean a river?"  
That seemed to light up Shiro's features. "See, I got it right."  
"Shiro, for God's sake. Our galaxy is called Milky Way."  
That seemed to catch him off-guard. "Milky Way," he repeated, "Yeah, I've heard that before."  
Keith crossed his arms in front of his chest, looking slightly annoyed. "Would you stop that now? I think I am just remembering that we had a dinner date with Lance and the others."  
Not waiting for a reply, he made his was towards the door, unlocking it with a push on the button next to it.   
Shiro followed after him. 

"It's really not called Sky River?" he asked when they sat down.   
Lance, Pidge and Hunk had already been waiting. But the three of them had been to invested into a fight about one of the latest blockbusters that they hadn't even noticed the two of them arriving.   
"What?"   
"Our galaxy?"   
Keith groaned. "No. No, it's not!"  
At that, Lance looked up and over to them. "What's not not?" he asked.   
"Shiro thinks our galaxy is called Sky River," Keith replied, beginning to eat his fries.   
While Lance burst out laughing, Pidge merely raised a brow.   
"Is that what it's called in Japanese?" she asked, loud enough to drown out Lance's laughter.   
"Yeah," Shiro answered, absentmindedly scratching the back of his neck, "I think, looking back on it, not looking it up and simply going for a direct translation wasn't the best course of action."  
Keith almost choked on his drink. Suddenly it all made sense. That Asian-looking student during class, raising her hand, obviously eager to point something out, or Shiro's confidence when he'd said the wrong name; those weird signs on the blackboard.  
"That was Japanese," Keith murmured. He suddenly felt embarrassed.   
Why didn't he think of it? The answer was quite obvious to him.   
"Yes, it was," Shiro agreed, now grinning, "I should have let Yamanashi say what she wanted to after all."  
Hunk raised a brow. "Yamanashi?"  
"One of Garrison's exchange students. She's staying until January," he said and then added, like an afterthought, "She's also from Japan. We talk a lot in Japanese."  
"Sorry," Keith said. That got Shiro's attention.   
"For what?"  
"For laughing at you back there. I...I guess I just keep forgetting that English isn't your first language. With you being that fluent and all. Really, I'm sorry."  
Shiro shook his head, smilingly laying his hand on top of Keith's and slowly stroking the back of it. "Don't worry. I'm actually quite happy you pointed it out. I've got another navigation class later this evening. Making the same mistake twice would just have been embarrassing."  
Lance raised his hand. "I think doing it even once is also pretty embarrassing."  
"Shut up, Lance. You blacked out in the middle of your shooting lesson and just kept screaming 'izquierda!' at some very confused Russian students," Pidge said.   
Lance leaned back on his chair, folding his arms. "Yeah, alright. I get that screaming Spanish at Russian students doesn't fit well, but let's be honest, who can keep up with their nationalities, anyways?"  
"Anyone who takes a look at their student's files beforehand," Keith answered.   
Lance looked like he'd just been slapped. "They have files?!"  
Hunk and Shiro actually chuckled, while Keith and Pidge looked like they were about to stand up and leave.   
"Well, that's that," Pidge declared, her gaze wandering over to where Keith's and Shiro's hands were still linked on top of the table.   
"In case you should need wedding vocabulary, Shiro," she said, taking a sip from her juice, "Just ask."  
That got a startled noise from Hunk and Lance. "YOU'RE GETTING MARRIED?!" they screamed, loud enough for all the students and the other instructors in the room to turn their heads.   
Keith turned red as a tomato. "No," he squeaked.   
But it was too late. A bunch of people already stood in line to congratulate them.   
He took a pleading look at Shiro. "Help."  
But Shiro only shrugged. "Maybe I should take that vocabulary lesson with Pidge," was all he said, before he simply continued to eat, ignoring the ruckus around them.


End file.
